SAN FRANCISCO -- Ahead of the Democrats’ State of the Union Response to Trump’s address on Feb. 5, the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) issued the following statement urging Stacy Abrams’ to rally Congress to pass legislation to repeal the Muslim Ban:

“We’re looking forward to Stacey Abrams’ State of the Union response because she represents ‘the resistance our country needs now.’ For too long, American Muslims have been left out of the conversation on both sides, often spoken about rather than spoken to. As Ms. Abrams’ words will truly carry weight to unite this country, American Muslims are calling on Democrats to #RepealTheBan and reject Trump’s border wall,” said Zahra Billoo, the Executive Director of CAIR-SFBA.

“Trump’s first act in office was imposing this clearly discriminatory ban, meant to keep families apart and cruelly bar an entire religious group from entering the United States. This evening we will be reminded of this as Ali Hassan and Shaima Swileh, a young Yemeni couple who was kept apart despite their son’s terminal illness because of the Muslim Ban, attend the President’s address. We appreciate the leadership of Representatives Jerry McNerney and Zoe Lofgren in advocating for them as they struggled to obtain a Muslim Ban waiver and in highlighting their story today.

“This hopeful new Congress must respond in kind, by ensuring that its first task includes repealing the ban and uniting us under the values we aspire to hold. We already know Trump will continue pushing policies that spew hatred, fear, and xenophobia, and keep Black and Brown families apart. We’re calling on our nation’s most diverse Congress to-date to reject Trump’s manufactured immigration crisis, and to #RepealTheBan before the lives of even more families are impacted.

“While Trump held the government hostage for a record-setting 35 days -- keeping 800,000 federal workers from getting paid -- American Muslims stepped up by donating to families of federal employees to provide shutdown relief. Muslims are -- and have always been -- part of the history and makeup of this country, espousing values that show the better parts of America, not the ones stunted by fear and hate.

“Now, we’re asking Congress to stand with us in rejecting Trump’s border wall, and repealing the Muslim Ban once and for all. The diversity of this country is reflective of our America, and we demand policies that benefit all people.”